US Keeps High Tariff on India While Cutting Rates for Bangladesh, Pakistan

Highlights

There remains some ambiguity as to what extra levies Trump specifically meant to place on India over its transactions with Russia.

As the 1 August deadline loomed, US President Donald Trump has announced that Donald Trump India tariff would be placed on a number of countries. While the Trump administration has kept the rate on India at 25%, it is not clear how Trump will implement the extra sanctions he previously stated he would place on India due to its transactions with Russia.

Pakistan confirmed the deal with the US on Thursday, with Bangladesh seeing its rate dropped to 20% from 35% as Trump slashes tariffs on Bangladesh by 19%. The South Asian nation has also seen its reciprocal 29% tariff lifted since April. Pakistan is also in line to benefit from the announcement.

The White House said the changes would be placed on “goods brought into the country for consumption, or withdrawn from the warehouse for consumption, beginning at 12: 01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time seven days after the date of this order.”

White House officials told CNBC-TV18 exclusively that this should not be treated as an extension but just more time for the customs department to prepare their systems accordingly to collect the Trump tariffs on Pakistan.

In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said India has a US trade policy with India due to concerns of how closely it aligns with China.

The United States has given tariff notifications of 20% on Taiwan, 19% on Cambodia, 19% on Thailand, 30% on South Africa and 15% on Turkey. The current tariff on Israel and South Korea is 15% and the levy on Switzerland is 39%. That dragged down the Swiss Franc (CHF) against the US Dollar (USD).

As for its decision to recognise Palestine as an independent state, Canada moved to a higher tariff of 25% to 35%.

In total, imports from roughly 40 countries are expected to face the new 15% tariff, while goods from roughly a dozen economies will see even steeper duties as the US, in a unilateral move, as part of Trump trade war 2025, informed the nations of new US import duties India.